Asselborn's final Security Council meeting

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn will take part in a UN Security Council meeting on Friday to discuss threats to international safety, his final session representing the Grand Duchy on the council.

(CS) Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn will take part in a UN Security Council meeting on Friday to discuss threats to international safety, his final session representing the Grand Duchy on the council.

Luxembourg at the start of 2013 assumed a temporary seat on the UN Security Council after two seats coming up for a vote in October 2012 in the “Western Europe and Others” category. Australia was voted into the council with 140 votes, while Luxembourg had to go head to head against Finland in a second round of voting, securing 131 votes, with Finland receiving just 62.

Also voted into the council in their respective categories that year were Rwanda, Argentina and South Korea, with the Security Council renewing five of its 10 temporary seats every year.

Luxembourg's mandate comes to an end on December 31 this year, with Asselborn attending his final UN Security Council meeting on Friday.

On the agenda are threats to peace and international security in the shape of terrorism and cross-border crime. The topic has kept the Security Council busy over the past months, with a resolution recently passed to prevent radicalised Muslims from joining militants in Syria and Iraq, fighting, among other organisations, for the Islamic State.

A lunch with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was also on the agenda.

Spain will replace Luxembourg on the Security Council from the start of next year, with New Zealand, Venezuela, Malaysia and Angola also voted in.

On top of permanent members China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, the council's 15 seats will be completed by temporary members Chad, Nigeria, Jordan, Chile and Lithuania, who are on the council for two years from the start of this year until the end of 2015.